As an animator and filmmaker, I watch different people stuggle to get their films distributed and noticed in the movie industry. I wrote two screenplays so far, and I have learned the trouble of getting them out into the market place. What I write is usually labeled as Dream Specs. They will probably never see the light of day. I can't trust the success of scripts like Little Miss Sunshine or Juno because out of the millions of scripts pumped out every few years, these surfaced for their marketable assets. Distributors are increasingly more worried about marketing rather than originality. Which is fine, but when do we draw the line. Films like Four Eyed Monsters and We are the Strange have been overlooked for their unmarketable nature as artsy films. So the filmmakers seek self distribution. It is hard to gain an audience when you don't have the money to market your film, especially when it is a great film.
So why am I talking about film distribution. Well, I am currently finishing my third screenplay which is a drama-comedy called Love.Therapy. I've decided to use my money to try and make my ideas come to life rather than wait for companies to scrape them. And as I look at other filmmakers, they struggle to find an audience. So what am I proposing. I want to try and use the resources around me.
Newgrounds is a well established website filled with millions of viewers that are fans of different artist that make content for newgrounds. Unfortunately, it is just animation. There are rarely videos, but when there are, they are sometimes frowned upon. There are independent animators who never even heard of newgrounders who could probably have used the fanbase to help gain its animated short momentum. And filmmakers could do the same.
I guess what I'm trying to say is if newgrounds can open its door to independent filmmakers like me and others who create work that never make it even when their work is showcased in film festivals. Film festivals are incredibly corrupt sometimes, especially when people win awards from prestige festivals like Slamdance or Sundance, only to find no deals and stay in debt from over-budgeting filmmaking. Newgrounds can potentially be a safe haven for independent animated shorts and films. A website called is from here to awesome hoping to help filmmakers get their works distributed with no submission cost and the revenue comes directly into the creators pockets.
Maybe an awesome start to the distribution revolution would be for sites that have a huge following audience wise can help independents strive, such as newgrounds and youtube. If we can band together, just think of the endless possibilities. Newgrounds is huge enough as it is i think, but the problem is that it's sort of swaying to where film festivals are which is creating media that is marketable rather than original. And Newgrounds suceeds to keep it artist oriented and helping get incredible artist known. But I really think it could be open even more.
Newgrounds already holds contest for animators every so often, but I really think if these flash oriented websites pulled together can even host film festivals for animated short films and even, I hope feature films (something I hope to accomplish this summer by creating a film). I hope we can discuss this possibility even more in the forums or I hope Tom can make a front page post about independent filmmaking. This is my way of saying how we can get the media to the people without the need for industry executives.
I really think Newgrounds is on its way to making an online film festival. Something that it pretty much is already on a daily basis. It hands out awards and etc. But I believe it can be something even bigger.
Also, I would like to take the time to tell people of the film that I'm working on and the positions I am looking to fill during the middle of May.
The name of the movie as I said before is Love. Therapy and it is kind of like Wes Anderson's Rushmore but with the focus more on a boy trying to figure out what true love is and him getting over his shyness over women. This is just a quick sentence summary of the film. It is more complex then it sounds.
The positions that will be open are:
Editors
Animators: there will be animated sections in the film as we dig into the character's mind in certain scenes
Composers: Because of budget concerns, i'm hoping to keep away from comercail songs. I just want independent musicians.
Effects Specialist: Basically if you have any skills in after effects for color compositio and etc. We arent looking for like people who do cgi or anything. Just stuff that can help make the video look better in post production
This film will be submitted to different film festivals.
If you have any other information, just pm me or just add me on myspace here
I really hope we can discuss the future of Indie films right here and right now. No need to wait.
FrozenFire
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